A woman wept quietly in the dock at Whanganui District Court as she was sentenced to six months' home detention for benefit fraud on Friday.
Cheri Anne Mathews Patea had pleaded guilty on July 5 to 16 charges. One was of wilful omission and the other 15 were of dishonestly using a document.
Her lawyer Richard Leith said she had been in a relationship with Antony Patea and they had children together. Then they separated, and had gradually got back together, sometimes living together and sometimes living apart.
They reconciled in 2004, and were now married.
Since 2004 Mathews Patea has been given $91,847.08 in benefits she was not entitled to, the Ministry of Social Development said.